Doing It For Him
by AlinaLotus
Summary: Odd, how some people were as fierce in their kindness as in their beauty. Bella and Leah have a heart-to-heart.


**Set after Leah's first confrontation with Bella, while Jacob was off joy-riding in the Vanquish ;)**

I was feeling better, thank God. Able to keep my eggs and blood down, I was stronger, and I could feel the entire mood of my vampire family lighten with every ounce of color that went back into my face.

But of course, some things were just too good to be true. My Jacob drawer rattled, pulled out, and rattled some more, violently, when the last person I expected came barging through the door, her silky black hair cascading ripples down her bronze cheeks and shoulders. Leah was dressed in a pair of Esme's jeans, and a light blue cotton shirt. She was fierce in her beauty, like a raging river forcing its way down a mountain.

"I warned you," Edward snarled, standing up from my side.

Seth, on my other side, also stood. "Leah, don't do anything stupid again--"

"Shut up, Seth. Listen, lee--_Edward_--" Leah said his name with obvious distaste, but my husband must've seen something in her thoughts, because he straightened up and relaxed his stance.

"Bella," Edward said, running his cool hand across my cheek, "Leah has something she'd like to say. Will you listen, or would you like me to escort her out?" Always polite, ever the gentleman, that was Edward. I shook my head. Jacob was my best friend, and Leah a part of his pack. I wanted things to be right with her, even if just for a little while. It would help lessen the guilt of what I was, every second, doing to him.

"Edward! Don't be rude." Esme, coming into the room via the kitchen, scolded. His nice-guy act didn't fool her. "Please Leah, have a seat. Are you hungry? Or perhaps thirsty? I was just making Seth some lemonade." Esme truly was the most maternal person I'd ever come across. She reminded me of the women from the '50's, with their starched white aprons, always carrying around trays of milk and cookies for their husbands and children.

Leah opened her mouth, like she very much wanted to say something, then snapped it shut, her arms trembling. Seth smirked. "Good. 'Bout time he used it."

Edward nodded, his lips also pulled into a somewhat haughty smile.

Leah made a tsk noise. "I didn't come here to be tonight's entertainment. I have something to say to Bella, but I'll be damned if I'm going to have an audience."

"Guys, please." I said, handing Edward my cup of blood, "just leave us alone for a minute."

"Like hell we will!" Emmett said, tearing himself away from the television. "Remember last time she wanted to just talk, Bella?"

Edward considered Leah for a moment, then turned to Seth. "If you feel that it's safe," he said to the young wolf, "then we'll give you some time alone." His eyes flicked to me. "But I must warn you, Leah, that I will be listening."

Leah muttered something, but the room emptied, leaving me and the only girl wolf in the history of Jacob's people alone. I didn't know how to begin, but since she was the one who wanted to talk, I remained silent.

"_He's_ making me apologize. So, I'm sorry." Leah said, her teeth clenched.

"Oh," I mumbled. She must mean that Jacob had used his role of Alpha and commanded her to make amends. Suddenly, Seth and Edward's conversation made sense. "Thanks."

Leah nodded, and turned to leave the room, but something held her, stopped her. She sighed, then sank into the armchair opposite the couch. "Okay, here's the deal. I don't...hate you, Bella. I just...I'm looking out for everybody else. Jacob...how he loves you, it's going to be difficult for him. I've always sort of felt...a connection to Jacob. Maybe because out of the entire pack, after everything is said and done, we are the only two who would go back to the way things were before. I didn't want to change, he didn't want to change, we both hate what we are. Of course he annoys the hell out of me, and I don't leave the favor unreturned, but still."

Leah and Jacob...odd, but maybe Leah was the person who could make Jacob happy, to make him forget about me. Maybe she was his magic.

"But being in Sam's pack, it was killing me, Bella. Surely you must understand what it's like to love what is killing you." Leah indicated to my swollen belly.

Yes, I knew, better than anyone, what she meant.

"To be the outcast, the unwanted, to have the person you dream of night and day to want you gone, out of the way! You can't imagine..."

Actually, I could. When Edward left, I'd gone through exactly what she was talking about. But maybe I'd had it easier. If the Cullens had stayed in Forks, and Edward still not wanted me, would that have made been harder than him not being there at all?

"When Jacob split, and Seth went running after him, I just_ had _to run after them...Seth is a freaking baby, he has no idea about anything, let alone living on your own as an animal your entire life. Of course I had to think about it. Weigh my options. In the end, I knew it wasn't only Seth's safety I was worried about. I was worried about Jacob, too. Who would help him, when you were dead, who would be by his side, to show him how to cope with it, when the person you loved left you?"

I flinched at her words, but I knew they were true. Of course I fully intended to live through the birth of my half-human, half-vampire baby, but I got the gist of her words. She had abandoned her pack and La Push and her mom to be there for Jacob. Leah Clearwater, whom I'd always seen as harsh and cold, was displaying her heart, a heart so deep that I, as selfish as I was, could only dream of. Odd, how some people were as fierce in their kindness as in their beauty.

"What's it like? To see me, like this?" I asked, running my hands along my stomach.

"Sickening, mostly." Leah shrugged, sincere in her honesty. She reminded me of Emmett. Edward always said that Emmett's mind was a shadowless, clear lake. He wouldn't think something he wouldn't say. "But...blondie and I have some things in common, and if it were me in her place, or me in your place, I'd be doing the same thing."

"You and Rosalie have something in common?" Aside from their intimidation, I could see no similarities between my sister-in-law and the woman before me.

"We're both dead-ends, Bella. You...have no idea. I'm sure she's told you about it, the suffering, the pain, the longing. But until you yourself are as unchanged as we are, then you'll never really understand."

Ah. Of course. But seriously, Leah, wanting a child, wanting to be 'mommy'? I couldn't imagine it. I saw the pain and emptiness in Rose's eyes, it was constant now, and I couldn't help but feel a bit more selfish. Did I just take everything everybody wanted? It didn't seem fair, at all, that I should get something I truly didn't know I had wanted, while there were people, not just Leah and Rose, but women and men all around the world, who, for whatever reason, would never get to be a parent.

"So. There you are. I just wanted to explain a little bit."

"You didn't owe me that." I said, shaking my head.

Leah snorted. "I didn't do it for _you. _I did it for him." Leah jabbed a thumb behind her, where the door stood open. Jacob stood there, his hair messy, feet bare, and clothes dirty.

"Jacob." I said, and I felt my face light up, a smile stretching wide across my lips.

"Hey, Bells." Jacob said, his voice hoarse. "Leah..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm out." And without a backward glance at me, Leah left, slamming the front door shut behind her. That's how I would always remember her, her hair flying behind her, dark eyes crackling with energy. She was first and foremost a woman, before wolf, and I was grateful that I, at least once, got to see that side of her.

"You okay?" Jacob asked, taking Seth's vacated seat.

I smiled, and nodded. No matter what happened, I knew Jacob would be taken care of.

**Meh. I just really like Leah. Let me know what you think. **


End file.
